Small-business owners are growing more optimistic about the economy, according to a new study by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
The “optimism index” increased by 0.8 points in November settling in at 99, an NFIB news release said this week. That sentiment remains above the 52-year average of 98.
The study found that the share owners raising average selling prices rose 13 points over October, to 34%. NFIB officials said that’s the highest that figure has been since 2023 and it’s the biggest increase in the history of the survey.
While the NFIB taps its members across the nation to compile the results of the survey, there’s good news for Florida small businesses specifically.
“Florida’s small businesses are feeling more optimistic as owners are expecting higher sales during the holiday months. The tight labor market is still a challenge, but small businesses are determined to hire and create more local jobs,” said NFIB Florida Executive Director Bill Herrle.
In October, the NFIB survey found about one third of small-business owners were worried about filling jobs with qualified laborers. That anxiety seemed to settle down in November.
The NFIB survey found 21% of small-business owners cited labor quality as their single most important problem last month. That’s down by 6 points from the previous month, softening some of those concerns.
The 25-page report on the survey also concluded that well more than half of small-business owners found the overall health of their businesses to be either good or excellent. Some 53% said it’s good, up 2 points from October, while 11% said it’s excellent, down by 1 point from the previous month. Another 30% said it’s fair, which is down 3 points from October. Only 5% said it’s poor, an increase of 1 percentage point.
There are still ample job openings that small-business owners can’t fill, though. Some 33% said they have positions they couldn’t fill in November, which is an increase of 1 percentage point.
